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In a major victory for computer scientists and voter advocates, a new bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger bans the use of electronic voting machines that don't produce paper records of every ballot cast.

Members of the State Board of Elections were surprised to hear reports Tuesday that Diebold touchscreen voting machines similar to those used in Maryland were found abandoned recently on a street and in a bar in Baltimore.

Just five weeks before election day, federal legislators are increasingly casting doubt on electronic voting terminals and demanding that touchscreen computers produce paper records. But it's unlikely that their concerns will result in reforms before Nov. 2.

A federal appeals court on Monday overturned a state appellate judge who had thrown out a lawsuit seeking a paper trail for that state's new touchscreen voting machines. Fifteen Florida counties use voting machines that don't create paper copies. U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler, a south Florida congressman, filed the suit.

The state's highest court on Tuesday rejected a demand that citizens who do not trust touch-screen voting machines be given the option of using a paper ballot and that Maryland be required to take additional steps to protect the security of the Nov. 2 election.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer joined a lawsuit Tuesday alleging that voting equipment company Diebold sold the state shoddy hardware and software, exposing elections to hackers and software bugs.

In what could become a model for other states, Nevada voters on Tuesday became the first in the nation to cast ballots in a statewide election on computers that printed paper records of electronic ballots.

Whether paperless touchscreen voting terminals will accurately record people's votes and whether those votes could be recounted in a close election are open questions in Florida, epicenter of the 2000 presidential election fiasco.

Missouri will allow members of the military stationed overseas to return absentee ballots via e-mail, raising concerns from Internet security experts about fraud and ballot secrecy. Critics warn that e-mail is fundamentally insecure.

A state rule barring the 15 Florida counties with touchscreen voting from conducting manual recounts is at odds with state law, which requires hand recounts in some close elections, a judge ruled Friday.

Opponents of touch-screen electronic voting machines launched a broad attack Wednesday on Maryland's system, arguing that it is riddled with flaws that must be fixed to assure an accurate vote count in November.

The three companies that certify the nation's voting technologies operate in secrecy, and refuse to discuss flaws in the ATM-like machines to be used by nearly one in three voters in November. Despite concerns over whether the so-called touchscreen machines can be trusted, the testing companies won't say publicly if they have encountered shoddy workmanship.

A group suing the state Board of Elections acknowledged Friday that its fight to eliminate Maryland's computerized voting machines by November has failed. But members still hope a Circuit Court judge will require elections officials to guarantee a paper trail.